Bond Of Brothers
by eyyyyylmao
Summary: Natsu is sick of how he is treated at the guild and Lisanna's death was the last straw, he decides to leave and train and to his surprise gets a very unlikely companion. How will the world change when the two return
1. Chapter 1

Natsu sat at the bar with a dark look on his face, "Can I have a whiskey please Lis?" The young silver haired barmaid simply laughed "You know master would be angry if I did that, he said already he won't let anyone younger than 18 drink. You're 15 remember? Not that it stops Cana." Natsu smiled softly, he knew he couldn't blame Lisanna. He just needed to block out the voices of the guild. One in particular. That bitch with a capital B Lucy. She turned up three months ago and had roped Natsu into forming a team, then she spent the whole time moaning about her rent and whenever they got back she constantly talked shit about him behind his back, trying to turn the guild against him, all of them forgetting his extremely sharp hearing. And it worked. Only Erza, the Strauss' and Levy bothered talking with him. But then he heard something that shocked him. A certain voice drifted over from the corner of the guild hall. "Y'know what you blonde bitch! Quit having a go at flamebrain! He might be destructive and dumb but the fucking guy has done more for this guild than you ever will. You seem to have forgotten the fact that although he was raised by a dragon he is still human and I'm not gonna keep sitting here quietly listening to you." Natsu grinned, so the snowflake did have a heart after all. What he heard next though turned his own heart cold. "You mean he _says_ he was raised by a dragon. He probably made that up because everyone else here actually has a rough background. That was enough for Natsu and he barely even grunted out a "Seeya Lis." Before he stormed out of the guild.

 _ **A week later**_

Natsu was on his knees weeping at Lisanna's grave. He had been there for three days straight now, not eating or sleeping. He'd barely kept himself together the first two days, but he'd needed to be strong for Mirajane and Elfman and now they were there for each other he had broken down. Rain poured down Natsu's face and his very magic was beginning to flicker. "C'mon candlelight" a cold hand gripped his shoulder "you'll end up dying out here yourself. Lisanna wouldn't want this. She needs you happy. The guild needs you happy. Erza's had a full meltdown worrying about you." Natsu snorted, "The guild doesn't care, Lucy took care of that." The hand on his shoulder tightened painfully. "Look Gray. I can't go back there. I need to get stronger. If I had been stronger L… She would be alive and safe. I'm going to train for a long time and I can't do that with the guild." Gray's response shook him. "Then like hell you'll do it alone, beside who better to train with than your rival?" Natsu looked up, "Why?" Gray smiled softly, "We might be at each other's throats all the time, but we are brothers in everything but blood and brothers look after each other." This made Natsu smile for the first time in six days. "What about Happy? Is he coming?" asked Gray, "No. I won't risk his safety he can stay with the Strauss'. Just us okay?"  
"Okay" came the response.  
The next day at the guild there was a crowd of shocked faces. A letter announcing the two's departure but not only that a photo was top of the later showing the two wizards without Fairy Tail's guild mark.  
Natsu and Gray stood on a hill overlooking Magnolia, each with matching sad smiles. Then they turned and left.

 _ **Two years later**_

Natsu grinned with excitement as he and Gray walked down a forest path, the two had had a rough two years training but the results were undeniable. Both the boys had bulked out considerably but were still on the lean side, they were wearing tight fitting leather vests rimmed in iron and Natsu wore black, metallic knuckledusters that glimmered viciously whereas Gray opted for silvery-white bracers. They both wore fairly baggy combat trousers and leather combat boots and each of them had their recognisable trademark items, Natsu's scarf and Gray's necklace. Natsu's hair was slightly longer and three claw shaped scars marred his right forearm and Gray now had a strange curling black tribal tattoo wrapping up his left arm. "What do reckon changed the most?" asked Natsu, "I bet ya they have a new guild hall, they destroy so much." Gray grinned back, "I remember that being you dragon-breath, nah I bet Bisca and Alzack finally hooked up."  
"It's on popsicle! Two thousand jewels sound fair?" Gray laughed "Sure I could do with some easy money and when it comes to betting your luck is going to run out one day."

Half an hour later the guild hall doors were kicked open by the two. "OI GRAMPS!" They screamed, "HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT TWO NEW RECRUITS?" The guild turned to look at the newcomers. And their jaws dropped. "GRAY?! NATSU?!" the two simply grinned. "Yo guys, how have you been?" said Natsu seconds before he was barrelled to the ground by a certain red-haired knight. "WHERE THE FUCK WERE YOU NATSU? DO YOU KNOW HOW WORRIED I WAS?" iron-clad fists began wailing down onto Natsu, then, surprising everyone he caught her wrists and stopped her. "Chill out Erza we're all good. How have you been?" Then Natsu leant up and whispered something in Erza's ear that no-one could quite catch. What they did see however was Erza turn bright red in embarrassment and begin stuttering causing several jaws to drop. "I…i… w…was worried… s…sick N…Natsu" Erza managed to fumble out. "Well there's no need for that okay?" several guild members were pinching themselves and by this point Mirajane had sidled up to Gray, "He figured out Erza had a crush on him back then?" she whispered "Yup. The guy isn't as dumb as he makes out and he does have the advantage of advanced hearing, though that can be a blessing and a curse." Gray muttered out of the corner of his mouth, a dark look gracing his features at the last point. It was at this point the master tumbled off of his perch at the second floor railing. "Glad to see you two back Gray and Natsu, you wish to re-join the guild?"  
"That's the ticket Gramps" replied Gray as the master stretched out his arm to grab the stamp using his titan magic. "Same place as before?" asked Makarov, "You know it Gramps" called out Natsu, who by this point was stood back up and had his arm slung around Erza's shoulders, said mage's face now indistinguishable from her hair. As the master began stamping the mark onto the two wizards Mirajane leant into Gray's ear. "Y'know that letter you guys' left probably saved my rep. When Lisanna… left. I was all set on giving up my magic totally, but seeing you and Natsu leave to train and your reasons for it. It reminded me why I even learnt my magic in the first place, to protect my family. Now I'm stronger than ever." Gray smiled mischievously, "Oh I think I'd love to have a fight with you soon." The response was instantaneous "You're on pretty boy." Causing Gray's smile to widen. Finally it seemed Erza had recovered, "You two picked a good time to return after all. Gray, Natsu I require your assistance in defeating a dark guild I have been investigating." She puffed out her chest imperiously, "What tin-can means is, we want to see you guys in action and by the way it was both of us that investigated that dark guild, if only flatty had done so we wouldn't have any info 'cause she would be too busy with her cakes." Mira flashed a devilish smile "WANNA GO GOTH BITCH?!" screamed Erza, barely restrained by Natsu, "ANY TIME ANY PLACE" yelled Mira, also being held back though by Gray. Two goliath hands slammed the S-Class mages into the ground "ENOUGH" yelled the master. Erza stood up and dusted herself off, "Of course master" causing Natsu to roll his eyes at her instant recovery, "Better get going brats, they're on the move" continued the master and with a nod from Erza she and Mirajane began dragging Gray and Natsu out of the guild.

"Shouldn't you be in agony right now Natsu?" asked Erza confused as the train shuddered down the tracks. Getting no response from him she was about to punch the Fire Mage before Gray pushed her fist down. "You really think I could have managed two years with him if we couldn't go on trains? He can manage now but has to really focus, doesn't really respond to anything until it stops moving, stops him chucking up on me though." Erza and Mirajane looked at the two in wonder, "You guys really changed huh?" asked Mira, "Yeah… well neither of us would let the other slack off." Muttered Natsu quietly, the two girls took the answer in their stride, "Figures. Succubus and I did a similar thing. Turns out training with a rival can really get results." Commented Erza, sparks emanating from Mirajane. "Anyway, ignoring ginger over there what's with the new get-up?" asked said wizard, Gray shrugged. "Loot, custom weaponry. In all honesty it was about practicality. Both our bodies are extremely durable but this armour" Gray tapped the leather on his chest "just means we take even less damage and therefore long. I use these" he then knocked his bracers on the chair "to stop arrows et cetera and flamebrain uses his knuckledusters to make him even deadlier in a brawl." Mirajane listened intently "What about the tattoo? Not to mention both of you guys' magic feels different." Gray simply tapped the side of his nose "That is on a need to know basis, we just picked up some tricks during our training"  
"Just… so you know. S'not just me who got rid of a bad… habit. Pervert doesn't even strip anymore." The two girls snapped their heads to look at Gray who scratched the back of his neck awkwardly, "Yeah, finally got that sorted. The worst thing is that it took longer than it did to train hothead out of motion sickness." A snigger escaped Erza before she patted his head patronisingly. "At least we won't have to punish you for stripping randomly anymore." As Erza said this the train slowed to a stop. The group stood and were just about to leave when Natsu grabbed Gray's shoulder "Sense that?" he asked in a low tone, Gray focused for a moment before gaining a dark look, "Zeref" he hissed, "Mira, Erza c'mon, there is dark magic on this train." The two girls in question gained serious looks. To their surprise Natsu started first silently, creeping into the carriage ahead, "Come out, come out wherever you are." He muttered in a sing song voice. Just ahead of them the mages spotted a man with pitch black hair look up sharply. He then caught sight of Gray and Natsu and his face turned white as a ghost, "The Demon Twins?" he whimpered before shadows swirled in front of him, blasted a hole out of the side of the train and sprinted off in terror. Natsu gained an evil grin which Gray mirrored, "I love it when our prey runs." His magic power filling the room, catching Erza and Mira's looks he explained himself, "We gained a bit of a reputation as dark mage hunters, especially when it came to Zeref." With that fire swirled under his feet and he blasted out of the hole in the train, Gray looked back with a grin "Coming?" he asked and with that he launched himself out with a pillar of ice. Erza and Mira looked at each other in wonder. Then shrugged.  
" **REQUIP: BLACK WING ARMOUR** "  
" **TAKEOVER: SATAN SOUL** "  
And with that the two S-Class soared after the two pursuing mages.

Erigor's lip curled in disgust, "What do you mean the Demon Twins?" he asked with disdain, "I'm telling you! They were there! On the train! They could turn up any time!" shouted Kageyama, pulling hair out in fear. "Nonsense, the last anyone heard they were imprisoned in Bosco" though doubt flickered in his confident statement. "Yes and that was three months ago, everyone knows their reputation and Bosco never releases information that could make them look weak!" A resounding crash echoed through the train station that the dark guild Eisenwald were currently holed up in. "Talking about us?" came a derisive voice, two shadowed figures strolled into the centre of the station, hard, bright light shone down on the two and revealed Natsu and Gray. Ice and fire began swirling around the two forming intricate patterns that flitted through the air and broke and reformed as fast as they were made. Several of the dark mages in the room began shivering uncontrollably. "You know it's rude to talk about someone behind their back." This time it was Gray who spoke. Erigor began laughing maniacally, though there was a definite note of fear there. "You fools think you can take on the dark guild of Eisenwald? I could destroy you with a flick of my wrist." The statement made Natsu grin, "What was that phrase again?" he said to himself, "Oh yeah." A devilish grin grew even wider. "Come on and get it then. If you think you're hard enough" with that said Erigor threw himself at Natsu, who blasted himself with barely restrained excitement. Gray cricked his neck to one side and even more ice began swirling around his hands "Please tell me I'll at least get a half decent fight out of this, I don't want to get all worked up to find there are only grunts." A strangely dressed man stepped forwards, his coat yellow and black stripes and an evil smile forming as he spoke. "My name is Rayule and I think I will have the pleasure of fighting and defeating you." Black cables dripped from his arms and began racing towards Gray, however without even blinking Gray simply raised his hand and the cables froze then shattered. " **Freeze** " he spoke in a monotone and his would be opponent was encased in ice. "Like I said. I want at least a half decent fight." The other members began to flee, however Gray raised his hands again " **Ice Make: Walls** " huge four-metre thick bastions rose from the ground up to the roof, trapping the dark guild. It was at point Erza and Mira flew in. "Thank god for the cavalry" muttered Gray sarcastically, "HEY YOU TWO! MIND TAKING OUT THE BOZO'S DOWN HERE WHILE I LOOK FOR A DECENT FIGHT?" Erza and Mira looked down in annoyance and were about to respond when Gray interrupted them again. "CHEERS" and with that he strolled off in search of a mage with some actual skill. A sudden yell caught entire station's attention " **FIRE DRAGON'S ROAR** " and a pillar of flame stretched out into the visible sky, two figures could barely be seen high above Oshibana station and fire and gusts of wind snapped back and forth. Natsu grinned happily, it had been too long since he'd stretched his metaphorical magical muscles and even longer since someone gave him a challenge. "Where's the Zerefian item you guys had?" He yelled at Erigor, the wind mage sneered, "Looks like Kage's taking it to its true destination. It's no longer here." Natsu lost his childish excitement and all of a sudden Erigor was reminded of why the mage was so feared in the underworld. The black knuckledusters Natsu wore began to glow orange with heat, then white, then gained a bluish tint. "Guess I can't enjoy this fight after all. **FIRE DRAGON'S IMPLODING FIST** " As Natsu launched the punch at the wind mages chest the air super-heated at such a speed the space directly in front of Natsu's fist formed plasma and as the metal crushed into Erigor's ribcage it snapped out, devouring oxygen, forming a vacuum which sucked in more air and created a massive explosion. The force behind the attack rocketed Erigor back towards the ground and as he impacted a crater the size of a house was formed. Natsu cut off the fire keeping him air borne and dropped to the earth like a stone. He quickly caught Gray's scent and caught up with the ice mage. "The item has been taken by some other mage and I can only find one scent leaving the building. We need to hurry." Gray nodded in agreement. "You grab Erza, I'll get Mira."

The night was practically silent around Kageyama and he held Lullaby in trembling fingers. "I… I can do this… the old geezers betrayed us… I… I can…" the flute dropped from his fingers. A rumble echoed through the ground and a deep voice echoed out " _Disgusting coward. After all this you can't even play a little tune. I will do this myself._ " The flute warped slightly, wood bulging unnaturally. A magic circle grew from its head. There was a flash of light and then in place of the flute was a demon the size of a mountain. " _HAHAHAHA it's good to be free once more._ " Bellowed the demon, green light swirled by its feet and three glaring eyes turned to look at Kageyama. " _Pathetic_ " it said and opened its mouth. Kageyama staggered slightly and before his eyes a wisp of white light began drawing out of his chest. While he looked the light continued exiting his body until was only attached by a thread. Then the thread snapped and Kageyama collapsed to the ground like a puppet with its strings cut. The demon made a retching noise, " _Foulest tasting soul I've ever had. Needs salt._ " It turned to look at the Guild Masters meeting. " _Those look nice though._ " A huge magic circle began forming. "I DON'T THINK SO YOU GROSS HEAP OF ROTTING WOOD" came a yell. The demon glanced down. Four mages stood facing the monstrosity. " _Interesting_ " said Lullaby, a grin forming on the ancient carved face. Natsu looked over at Gray, "We bringing out the big guns on this one?" he asked, Gray nodded. "Better safe than sorry and if its anywhere near Deliora's level we'll need to be serious." Natsu nodded and cracked his knuckles. A golden magic seal appeared under his feet, " **Etherious** " he incanted. Golden light crept up his legs, wrapping around his torso and then arms, soon he was completely covered in light, when it faded Erza and Mirajane looked on in wonder, it was definitely Natsu, same face, same bright pink hair, but poking out of said hair was two pointed golden horns stretching out from between locks of hair. In place of his leather vest and combat trousers he wore baggy white trousers and a long unclasped black trench coat which had emblazoned on one side two overlapping golden keys atop a v shape. Beneath the coat he wore nothing and on his chest were curling black marks from behind his back. A large x-shaped scar covered his chest and his eyes turned into feral slits. Golden fire lapped up his arms and magic poured off of him like a waterfall. He turned to Gray and grinned, " _Don't leave them hanging_ " he said, his voice like the rustling of dry leaves. Gray grinned right back. " **Devil Slayer Secret Art: Transformation of the Damned** " Gray's hands turned to claws, the tattoo on his arm shifting and lengthening before stretching over his arm, across his torso and down the other arm. The same mark that marked Natsu's coat forming icy blue on his now uncovered chest. His ears stretched to a point and teeth sharpened into lengthy incisors. The two faced the demon Lullaby, who now looked terrified. Natsu began casting, " _The advantage of my twin fires, both dragon and cursed. Is that I can burn any who threaten me or my family._ _ **DRAGON FIRE CURSE: IGNITION OF TEN THOUSAND SOULS**_ " Golden fire roared forth from his outstretched hands and shot up the wood-demons legs, who began screaming in desperation and pain. The magic circle under the demon vanished as it could barely think. Then the fire was gone and left the demon barely standing. Natsu turned to Gray " _Your turn_ " he said. Gray nodded with a smile and turned to Lullaby, " _I've been itching for the chance to use a strong spell all day so I guess I should thank you really._ _ **ICE DEVILS ZEROTH DESTRUCTION BOW**_ " A huge bow of ice formed in his hand and faster than either Mirajane or Erza could see he aim, drew and fired the bow, an arrow of lilac-coloured ice shot forward at immense speed and pierced Lullaby directly through the chest, the demon staggered but still stood and a grin began to form, then the ice grew huge spikes that ruptured Lullaby further. Then more ice grew and more until the entire chest of Lullaby was pierced by huge lances of ice. Then the ice exploded with such force that the entire body of Lullaby was reduced to shrapnel and thousands of splinters of wood began raining down on Clover Town. The two demonic figures snorted " _Too easy_ " muttered Natsu, " _I still haven't gotten a good fight!_ " groaned Gray. Erza and Mirajane looked at each other, "Am I the only one feeling completely useless right now?" Asked Erza and Mirajane just gaped in shock.


	2. Chapter 2

_***Spoilers about Tartarus and onwards I suppose, with a twist***_

"NAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATTTTTTSSSSSSUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!" Came a high pitched yell before a small, blue, furry object slammed into the fire mage's chest. "WHY DID YOU LEAVE ME BEHIND?" Tiny blue fists began slamming into Natsu's chest who simply patted the cat on the head comfortingly. "Sorry lil' bro. It was something I needed to do, couldn't risk hurting you." The cat began crying profusely and only quietened once he was gently placed in Natsu's messy pink locks, where he curled into a warm ball.

Gray smiled sadly, "Poor guy, knew he would take it the worst." Natsu nodded in agreement, "Yeah, well I'm back now and I owe him two years' worth of adventures." Then all of a sudden the two mages froze.

They turned around, Natsu careful not to disturb the sleeping cat. Both the boys had terrified looks which only worsened once they locked eyes with the two facing them. Mirajane cracked her knuckles while Erza summoned a sword and both had evil grins. "You two didn't think you had gotten off that easily? We need some _strong_ words about you leaving, not to mention you're going to tell us what the hell that was with the magic you used against Lullaby."

The male mages glanced at each other, visibly shaking. "P…Plan K?" asked Natsu shakily, Gray just about nodded, "M…Might wo…work." They both muttered various pleas to Mavis, random gods and honestly anyone who was crazy enough to help them and then leaned in and kissed the two girls.

Erza gasped, barely able to conceive what was happening, Natsu was… kissing her? He tasted like wood-smoke and burnt cinnamon and the knight could feel herself melting into his warm grasp, she had imagined this countless times, especially when she was younger. But for it to happen? Her mind was at war with itself. 'HOW DARE HE? DON'T FORGET HE'S STILL IN SHIT WITH YOU FOR THE MAGIC AND THE FACT HE LEFT!' screamed part of her. A much calmer and seductive voice then quietened the other, 'Shhhh, you wanted this for a long time remember? Think of all the _things_ we can do now hm? Just look at him! He's such a hunk now, why waste the opportunity?' As the argument raged, Erza shrugged, 'Fuck it. I was planning on doing something like this anyway.' An evil grin spread and she dragged Natsu up. "Come with me!" with that said she dragged him out.

Mirajane was blinking rapidly, 'Gray? I mean sure, he has quite the figure', her eyes dragged over him and she sighed in loss remembering he no longer stripped, 'And there is something rather… appropriate with the two rival pairs shacking up with each other.' She smiled, "The dragon and the knight huh?" she muttered through Gray's surprisingly warm lips, "And the demon and the devil slayer" he retorted, "Besides what are you doing thinking of those guys right now?" his tone was playfully hurt. Mira shrugged as she saw Erza drag Natsu out with a hungry look in her eyes, a certain poor blue cat toppling off of his head as they left. 'Fuck it' she thought 'Seems like it will be fun' then she to stood and began pulling Gray with her.

 _ **21 hours later**_

"NAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATTTTSSSSUUUUUUUUUU!" for the second time the blue ball of fluff known as Happy crashed into the aforementioned mage's chest. "YOU LEFT AGAIN!" he began wailing at full volume. "AH SORRY HAPPY" Natsu yelled, "I had to, Erza dragged me off" the cat nodded sagely in awareness of the scarlet haired woman's wrath. Then the cat grinned, "She liiiikkkeeess you!" he said in a sing song voice, but what Natsu said blew the cats mind, "And I like her so it's all good right?" Natsu grinned as Happy keeled over in shock. "But I brought this as an apology" he dumped a sack bigger than a wine barrel on the ground, the top opened and Happy could see it was brimming with fish. "NATSU YOU'RE THE BEST!" He began gnawing on one immediately. "Also this" he handed the cat a small card, 'Show this to Mr Stevens for free fish anytime, anywhere. No limit.'

Happy looked up at Natsu with tear filled eyes. "Natsu" he said softly, "I have an idea." The cat then grinned evilly and flew off, "THANK YOU NATSSUUUUU!" he yelled behind him. Natsu grinned but it was short lived as the master called out. "Natsu, Gray! Come to my office!" Natsu sighed and jumped up, bypassing the stairs and landing next to the master, "You want to know about Lullaby and our magic huh?" The master nodded and Natsu headed into the office behind him, soon followed by Gray.

The master frowned as he sat cross-legged on his desk. "I was told what you two did at Clover Town, care to explain?" The two mages had vaguely worried looks. "When we were… uh gone" started Natsu, "we ran into some trouble with some dark guilds, beat them easily enough but we caught the attention of some powerful people, we uh… kinda got caught by Tartarus." He scratched the back of his mop of hair sheepishly, "Gave them hell though! Defeated a fair few of their Demon Gates or whatever, that Franmalth dude, Keyes…" he trailed off awkwardly and Gray stepped in "And my dad master." Makarov looked shocked, "We learnt a lot of stuff about our pasts. My father had been resurrected by the necromancer Keyes, he had learnt Ice Devil Slayer magic and when pops was defeated he passed his magic onto me. That's what I used." Gray then shot a sympathetic look at Natsu, who again scratched his mess of hair "Yeah, I wish mine was that simple." Natsu frowned, "Turns out I'm some demon called E.N.D"

The master gaped in shock, "E.N.D? Demon?" he looked worried and Natsu frowned again, "Yup. Etherious Natsu Dragneel. When we were caught I got put in this thing called Hell's Core, which we destroyed by the way, those guys can't reform for a while at least. But it can also be used to turn humans to demons. When they used it on me though, apparently their old master E.N.D, his magic or curse or whatever was very specific, and my magic container and body were the perfect host, in their eyes I am the reincarnation of E.N.D. But when they tried to bring him back I only got his curse and not his 'being'. It's locked away in some book that the master carries around, Igneel fought the guy hundreds of years ago and defeated him, destroyed his body but not his soul, they couldn't reform him, too much magic is needed to make a body strong enough so Igneel was able to seal him away. So then we managed to escape, the curse I gained easily broke us free. But I don't like to use it too much."

Makarov looked on worriedly, "Why not brat?" and Natsu looked down ashamed, "The curse feeds off magic, the longer and more I use it the more my Dragon Slaying magic burns away, if I use it too much the only thing I will have left of Igneel will be my scarf." The master rested a hand on Natsu's shoulder, who was shaking slightly. "And your memories, you will always have those." Natsu nodded and squared himself, "That was about a year ago yeah. Now we're here!" He finished with a rather forced grin.

Erza and Mira stood outside the master's office with worried looks on the face but were quickly shook out of their stupor. "OI YOU COMING IN?" the voice sounded like Natsu, "Why does everyone forget the nose?!" He continued in a quieter voice, "Like honestly, you'd think they don't know me at all." The two S-Class walked into the office sheepishly and Erza was the first to speak, "Natsu I'm so sorry how do you…" The fire mage quickly raised a hand to silence her, "Don't even stress Erz, if anyone should be worried about anyone it should be me about you. Why didn't you ever mention the tower to us?" Erza gasped in shock and was barely audible "You know?" she mouthed in a whisper and Natsu nodded sadly before embracing her. "Ran into some assassination group a while ago that were working for the head guy, we learnt what happens there and that you were there, but the mages had some kind of secrecy rune or magic. They died before we learned more." Natsu frowned darkly, "Like the location."

The two separated and Erza whispered into Natsu's ear "I'll tell you everything some other time." The mage nodded again then grinned, "C'mon Gramps it's not like us to be so down! Tell me you got a mission for us?" The master raised an eyebrow, "As it happens, brat. I do have one for all four of you, a lot of suspicious activity has been happening in the underworld of late and a worrying surge of recruitment sprung up in both independent dark guilds and the alleged strongest of them all, Grimoire Heart. I was hoping I could monopolise on your reputations as the Demon Twins, and of course the Majin and Titania helps." With that the master smiled quite evilly, "I would like you to investigate in Dawn city near the western coast. I'll expect you to leave five days from now, prepare accordingly." Mira and Erza grinned at getting such an important mission and Gray and Natsu lazily saluted. "Alright then, seeya Gramps" said Gray and the mages filed out.

"Um Erza" came a call from behind said person, Erza turned and to her surprise it was Natsu, looking… Nervous? "Yes Natsu?" she asked suspiciously, "Well, I was just wondering you know, if you wanted to spend." The rest of the sentence was an incoherent mumble and Natsu was bright red, leaving Erza confused, after several moments of silence she sighed and Natsu nearly shouted, fumbling over his words, "Would you like to prepare for the mission together!" the words almost sounded foreign to him, like someone else said it, not him. Erza turned bright red as well, "That would be" she coughed loudly to cover her growing excitement, "Practical Natsu, we will pack quicker that way." Natsu beamed at her and her smile grew. "Oi! Happy c'mon we need to get ready!" he yelled and sprinted out the door leaving Erza chuckling.

The two were now sat a small distance away from Fairy Hills, the guilds female dorms, in a small wooden covered pavilion where Natsu had lit the large centrepiece fire and lay out his sleeping pack and gear. Natsu had his back resting on a strong fence that circled the whole area and one knee drawn to his chest, looking utterly relaxed. Very close to him Erza sat with her back straight, with her legs in the lotus position. Natsu raised an eyebrow, "Relax Erz, sitting like that is hardly a way to relax with a friend. Her response was almost to be predicted, "This position prevents my muscles from cramping and ensures my posture is perfect." This lead to Natsu sighing and he leant over the knight. "Loosen up Erza. It'll do you good." All of a sudden a vicious tickling attack sent Erza writhing on the floor. "No! Stop!" she giggled, then using her immense strength she flipped them both and was now straddling Natsu and sent a devilish smirk at him. "Revenge!" she hissed in delight.

Gray stood to one side of the kitchen and took in a deep breath. "Never knew you could cook Mira" he said in a surprised tone. The white-haired beauty smiled, "Yeah I always cook for my little brother and… friends." She blinked and her smile returned. Gray gave a smile back to reassure her, "I like this side of you, even if you are the Demon of Fairy Tail you're still human." His hands were stuck deeply in his pockets and to be perfectly honest Mirajane was still getting used to him not stripping, she walked up to him and poked him in the chest. "Yeah well don't cross me, I might have tempered down but don't think for a minute you can take me on and get away with it! I'm still the Demon." Gray's grin simply widened, "I'll just slay you then." Then he pecked her on the lips.

Erza's hair was everywhere and Natsu wasn't in a much better state with clothes ruffled and both mages sweating profusely and taking deep breaths after their tickling battle. Erza traced the scars on Natsu's arm, "How did you get these?" they were quite deep and travelled from the top of the bicep down to midway to his wrist. Natsu grinned, "Ah that's a story and a half! We were tracking a Fenrir in the eastern mountains for about three weeks, super high up, could barely see the trees, then this huge wolf comes barrelling out of the thicket like a train and knocks Ice Princess over…"

"I swear to all that is holy Mira this is the best fish pie I have eaten. Please cook for me more!" Gray was currently prostrating himself before the take-over mage as if she were a deity, who grinned, "Make that all that is unholy and you would be more on the mark. Besides you hang around Happy for any amount of time you learn how to cook fish." Shaking her head at the ice mage in amusement Mira continued eating.

"… then the bastard ends up breaking my third sword and I had to just bury him under my Adamantine shield. Couldn't attack if he couldn't move!" Erza and Natsu were laughing loudly as they swapped stories from the past two years. The knight then pushed a lock of scarlet hair behind an ear. "Natsu I would like to tell you about my time in the Tower of Heaven." Natsu straightened slightly and adopted a serious expression. "It started when I was a child in Rosemary Village…"

"How was I supposed to know people from Caelum find the word trousers offensive? What kind of culture has that kind of behaviour?" Gray was complaining about his training to get rid of his stripping as Mirajane was laughing loudly.

"I still think I betrayed my friends… How can I be forgiven for leaving them?" finished Erza sadly and was shocked as Natsu wrapped her in a huge embrace. "No Erza, it was that tattooed bastard not you, you did all you could, you were what? Eight? Nine?"  
"Nine" replied Erza and Natsu pushed her chin up gently staring deeply at her, "Never blame yourself for others sins. If I have learnt anything, you can't blame those who could do nothing about their circumstances. If I worried like that I would already be on the executioners block, what if E.N.D takes over? I'm a real monster Erza not you." Erza's slap to Natsu's face was like a gun crack, "Don't be stupid. You aren't responsible either." The two mages smiled and their foreheads touched softly.

Gray and Mira were curled up on the couch comfortably, "It was tough seeing dad like that you know. He was broken after being used by demons and losing his family. That's why I have to protect my new one." Mira simply hugged the boy closer "Stupid boy, we are protecting you to you know."

The time was ripe for Fairy Tail's missed duo to make a proper comeback.

 _ **FLUFFFF, hopefully not cringey though lol, I learned my lesson guys hey, plenty of paragraph gaps now and sorry for like no action and whatever but I want to have a chapter to set stuff up, also in response to people about the whole reasoning with Gray and Mira is literally that I thought it would be neat to have the two pairs of rivals getting together, mirroring and all that jazz. Plus like Natsu gets paired with every single damn female in the manga/anime so why not Gray, I like the whole idea that even though Natsu is powerful he has a counterbalance to him in the form of Gray which really was my motivation behind this story, so they will be on equal footing in this story. That's me done, until the next one guys.**_

 _ **Lmao**_


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